DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES; Surprise in the Mideast

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Published: November 6, 2008

Minutes before show time, the $2 million high-tech backdrop for Al Arabiya's election day news coverage was not working. But the channel's executive editor, Nabil al-Khatib, was calm. He is a tall man, with an easy presence, decades of experience in Middle East news and a conviction that events on Tuesday would not surprise. Senator John McCain, he believed, was going to win.

''Would Americans choose someone who thinks outside the box?'' he asked rhetorically as an army of engineers and technicians scrambled to get the big screen working again. ''This is just too good to be true.''

Al Arabiya is a Saudi-owned, Arabic-language news channel based in the Arab world's capital of consumer spending, Dubai. Al Arabiya's regional audience was overwhelmingly in favor of Senator Barack Obama, the editors said, but in the emirates, it seemed, there were at least some people who were certain that Americans would never vote for someone as different as Mr. Obama. ''McCain will win,'' Bilal al-Bodour, a deputy minister of culture for the United Arab Emirates, had predicted. ''That is the American mentality.''

Mr. Khatib had the same sense. He stood in the newsroom, a circular studio wrapped in a belt of video screens, all bathed in red and blue lights. Engineers had fixed the digital backdrop. ''This is a historic moment not only for the United States, but so we can all get away from perceptions about religion and race and instead consider the quality of the person,'' Mr. Khatib said.

Al Arabiya was determined to present news coverage of the election that was not biased toward either candidate. There was concern, for example, that the red banner swirling across a screen might appear to signal support for the Republicans. (Red is the channel's signature color.)

But as the program went on, it was clear who the favorite candidate was on the set.

''I want Obama to win with 99 percent, like Saddam Hussein,'' said Hani Abu Ayyash, who was monitoring the early returns at his computer. ''I swear if he doesn't win, I'm going to take it personally.''

And then, a few minutes before 8 a.m., CNN called the race, declaring Senator Obama the winner, and there was, for a brief moment, a cheer in the studio, a fist raised and then back to the broadcast. Mr. Khatib clasped his hands over his head, like a champion declaring victory, and smiled broadly. ''I am positively surprised,'' he said. ''It's great.'' MICHAEL SLACKMAN

PHOTOS: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Employees of the Arabic-language news channel Al Arabiya prepared for a program on the American elections on Tuesday. Senior editors had expected a victory by Senator John McCain.(PHOTOGRAPH BY TAMARA ABDUL HADI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES); NYANGOMA KOGELO, KENYA: Some of Senator Barack Obama's Kenyan relatives -- from left to right, Said Obama, Mama Sarah and Auma Obama -- met with reporters on Wednesday to talk about Mr. Obama's victory.(PHOTOGRAPH BY EVELYN HOCKSTEIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)